Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán sentenced to life imprisonment
Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday in a US prison A federal judge in Brooklyn handed down the sentence, months after Guzmán's conviction on drug trafficking charges.
The 62-year-old drug trafficker Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán had been protected in Mexico by an army of gangsters and a network of corruption. He was brought to the United States for trial after he twice escaped from Mexican jails.
My case was tainted and you denied me a fair trial when the whole world was watching... When I was extradited to the United States, I expected to have a fair trial, but what happened was the exact opposite. Guzman said
He also thanked his family for giving him "the strength to endure this torture that I have suffered for the past 30 months."
Evidence showed that the Sinaloa cartel was responsible for smuggling cocaine and other drugs into the United States during its 25-year reign. Also that his army of hitmen was under orders from Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán to kidnap, torture and murder anyone who stood in his way.
The defense argued that he was misled by other traffickers who became government witnesses so that they could make a profit in their own cases. They also claimed that their trial was tainted by juries who viewed the media coverage of the highly publicized case inappropriately.
"It was not justice. We cannot have a situation where jurors run around lying to a judge about what they were doing." Said defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman
Distrustful of his history of escaping from Mexican prisons, the United States authorities have kept him in solitary confinement in an ultra-secure unit in a Manhattan jail and under surveillance during his appearances at the Brooklyn courthouse, where he developed his case.
There were also reports that Guzmán was eager to testify in his own defense until his lawyers convinced him not to, so his sentence was the last chance to seize the spotlight.
